Slough off those dead and dry winter skin cells and give your skin a natural and healthy looking glow ready for bikini weather this summer! Using a body scrub not only smooths your skin but also improves circulation, brightens and softens the skin and possibly reduces cellulite.

You can make a body scrub at home with ingredients in your cupboard, so it doesn’t need to cost you a thing! And if it is edible is is usually not toxic like some skin care ingredients in commercial products.

Coffee and Coconut Body Scrub

I made a body scrub with coconut oil, used coffee grinds, and used chai herbs to give it a yummy spicy cinnamon smell. I used about 2/3 cup of coconut oil, about 2 heaped tablespoons of used coffee grinds (or whatever is in your percolator), and a teaspoon of used chai herbs from my last cuppa.

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The Solomon islands are an archipelago of small islands to the east of Papua New Guinea where the people still rely directly on the resources from the land for all their daily needs. We have just returned after spending 3 months there and have alot of self-sufficiency ideas to share with you.

If you have a coconut tree nearby, you can use 2 fronds to make a natural fibre broom for sweeping indoors. If you don’t have a coconut tree nearby, I suggest you plant one as the coconut has many uses. As the South Seas proverb goes… “He who plants a coconut tree, plants food and drink, vessels and clothing, a habitation for himself and a heritage for his children”

This broom works well, looks great and when it’s (long) sweeping life is over it will return back to the soil without a trace. In this video, Melodie Pitamama from Boeboe village, Choiseul Province, generously showed us how she works a broom from the ribs of coconut leaves.